Dana White confirms full UFC 249 card, announces two more events the next week

On Friday afternoon, UFC President Dana White joined reporter Brett Okamoto on ESPN‘s official Instagram page to announce the full lineup for UFC 249 on May 9. White also announced the next two events following UFC 249: one on Wednesday, May 13, and another on Saturday, May 16.

Here is the full May 9 card, per White’s announcement:

UFC 249 Main Card | Pay-Per-View

• Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje (interim lightweight title fight)
• Henry Cejudo vs. Dominick Cruz (bantamweight title fight)
• Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik (heavyweight)
• Jeremy Stephens vs. Calvin Kattar (featherweight)
• Greg Hardy vs. Yorgan De Castro (heavyweight)

UFC 249 Undercard | ESPN

• Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone vs. Anthony Pettis (featured prelim)
• Alexey Oleynik vs. Fabricio Werdum (heavyweight)
• Carla Esparza vs. Michelle Waterson (strawweight)
• Uriah Hall vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (middleweight)
• Vicente Luque vs. Niko Price (welterweight)
• Bryce Mitchell vs. Charles Rosa (featherweight)
• Ryan Spann vs. Sam Alvey (light heavyweight)

The lineups for the May 13 and May 16 cards are still being finalized, according to White.

During the Instagram live session, White assured that no fighters are being forced to fight during the coronavirus pandemic.

“If you don’t want to fight you don’t have to,” the UFC boss said.

White also once again tabbed UFC 249 as the beginning of the UFC’s return to regularly scheduled programming.

“Our full schedule will be rolling again on May 9,” White said. “We’ll be back in business.”

UFC 249 will go down at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The event was originally expected to occur in Las Vegas on April 18, but amid growing restrictions associated with the coronavirus pandemic, it was ultimately canceled, and constructed a new for the May 9 date. The two subsequent events will emanate from the same venue.

What are your thoughts on the full UFC 249 card Dana White announced on Friday?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 4/24/2020.